Festivals 2016: Latitude Festival Preview – Theatre, Film and Cabaret

Following on from our Preview of all the best Comedy, Dance and Literature on offer at this year’s haven of all things arts Latitude Festival, it’s time for a rundown of the high points in Theatre, Film and Cabaret making their way to Henham park this time next month. All manner of performance troupes will be making the journey, along with innovative, reflective film content in all shapes and sizes and the most bold and outlantish cabaret the country has to offer. Young Vic, Familie Floz and Svalbard are just some of the theatre houses putting on shows, and in the way of Cabaret, something Latitude always does in idiosyncratic style, London’s newest queer ‘superpub’ The Glory and country music singer Tina C have got things covered in headline slots.

Theatre

Credit: Carys Lavin

Curator of the Arts Arenas Tania Harrison has expressed Latitude’s excitement at adding to the international companies appearing in Latitude’s theatre line up, and it’s German physical theatre, mime and puppetry contingent Familie Floz who are leading this charge. Floz have performed in 34 countries and are a consistent hit at international arts festivals, including the Edinbrugh Fringe; the company’s director has in the past explained the importance of masks to the artistic process of the group, desribing how “masks set the imagination free” because “the viewer can create his own images undistracted by the actor’s facial expressions.”. They’ll be one to watch on the Sunday night headline slot as they present conceptual project ‘Teatro Delusio’.

C!RCA take on headline duties for the other two nights with their contemporary circus and acrobatic piece ‘Landscape with Monsters’. Elsewhere, theatre collective Svalbard bring their animalistic study of human behaviour ‘All Genius All Idiot’, the Young Vic theatre take a stroll through the history of pop culture, and Theatre Ad Infinitum tell the award-winning tale of ‘Bucket List’, the story of the struggling Mexican orphan to fight for what is right.

Film

Credit: Louis Theroux

Though it seems like it may be a spillover from the Literature side of things, the big name signing for the Film and Music Arena is Adam Buxton In Conversation with Louis Theroux, documentary maker, current affairs expert and all-round hero of the millennials. Theroux will be discussing his lifetime of visiting unique places and people and telling their stories, with his most recent ventures looking at the long term effects of brain injury. Elsewhere there will be a cinematic tribute to the life and works of David Bowie, a screening of the Vincent Haydock-directed short film The Odyssey featuring the music of Florence and the Machine and Florence Welsh herself.

Seven-piece Leeds-born electronic experimental group Submotion Orchestra head up the arena before taking off an a lengthy European tour. Kalaedoscopic masetros Andy Stott and Koreless are up at the top of the bill too. Multi-instrumentalist Adam Green will perform the soundtrack from his quirky original adaptation of ‘Aladdin’.

Cabaret

Credit: Dan Medhurst

The Latitude roster describes The Glory, who head up the Cabaret stage on Saturday, “as one of the most exciting venues to see queer performance, art and music in London”, so it’s a big score for punters to experience the spectacle in a field in Suffolk. Other cabaret delights from the London scene include singer, comic and compere Dusty Limits, who is bringing the GRIN show to the Cabaret stage on the Sunday.

Elsewhere, Edinbrugh Fringe sensation Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho returns in a new guise, with Margaret Thatcher: Queen of Gameshows acting as a sequel to the riotously well-received first outing. Country singing sensation Tina C, the voice behind hits ‘No Dick’s As Hard As My Life’ and ‘If You Can’t Live Without Me (Why Weren’t You Dead When I Met You’ brings some international flair to the already frivolous line-up.

Tickets are now on sale. All ticketing information for Latitude 2016 is available here.